Distant Drumming
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Assassin Ianto: 'You can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas...'


**Title: **Distant Druming  
**Fandom: **Torchwood  
**Rating: **FRM  
**Warning: **MPreg and character death  
**Summary: **_'You can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas...'  
_**Spoilers: **Sound of the Drums and Last of the Time Lords (DW 3x11 and 3x12)  
**Author's note: **Set in my assassin Ianto universe.

x

Jack had been gone three and a half months when the American President was killed and Harold Saxon announced the world was about to witness aliens.

Owen, Tosh and Gwen had been afraid, understandably so. Ianto was as well. But mostly he was confused. He had never heard of the Toclafane; they simply didn't exist. Nothing in the history books said anything about them.

Ianto scowled and rubbed at his stomach, trying to rid himself of the sensation that had been bothering him all day.

"What's wrong with you?" Owen asked immediately, rushing over to his side and crouching down.

The assassin scowled and batted Owen's hands away. "Nothing," he replied stubbornly. "Just indigestion, I'm fine."

"How can it be indigestion when you've barely eaten anything for three weeks?" Gwen's slightly bitter voice asked from a short distance away. "None of us have."

Ianto looked over at Gwen, feeling a small twinge of annoyance mixed with a tiny amount of compassion. He pushed Owen away from where he was fussing again and crossed over to Gwen.

"I know all this is hard, but we don't have a choice. We have no way of getting home at the moment, and even if we did I wouldn't let you – any of you – go out there," he said firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

They had tried arguing with him days ago; playing the 'Jack wouldn't want this' card, but he had remained firm in his choice that they were to remain where they were until the area outside wasn't hot anymore.

Ianto wrapped an arm around Gwen and pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly against his chest and pressing his lips to the top of her hair. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay and they would make it home safe and sound – all of them – but he knew he couldn't promise that.

Owen and Tosh looked at each other uncomfortably; neither of them knew exactly what to do. The medic shifted closer and cleared his throat before quietly asking, "Are you okay?"

Tosh flashed him a weak smile and shifted a little closer, resting her head on his shoulder. Owen started in surprise before wrapping and arm around Tosh and drawing her close. "I'm just tired," she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment.

Owen rested his cheek against Tosh's head and murmured, "Get some rest, Tosh. It'll be okay." He, unlike Ianto, didn't have any problems lying in an attempt to make people feel better.

Ianto looked over Gwen's head – the Welshwoman was already drifting into a light doze – and met Owen's eyes. They both knew there were doomed; it had been a trap all along. That much they knew. The only thing they didn't know was how long they would be able to survive before they were discovered.

Ianto didn't need to have empathic abilities to know what Gwen and Tosh were feeling. Tosh was exhausted, like the rest of them, but mostly worried about Jack and her family who were out there somewhere.

Gwen's emotions were even stronger to pick up on. She was grieving over Rhys a week before – he had been killed by the Spheres within hours of them striking; just one extra statistic for those killed during the decimation of the humans on Earth.

But she also resented Ianto for bringing them to the Himalayas in the first place. She believed that, even though he had nothing to do with the Spheres, them being in the mountain ranges was his fault.

Not that Ianto could argue with her. For the first time since he had become a Time Agent and an assassin, he had let himself be lead by his heart rather than his head. He had been tricking into thinking Jack was being held hostage somewhere in the dangerous mountain ranges.

Of course, now he knew better. It had been a trap and Jack would be fine – or at least he hoped he would, he wasn't sure he could remember how to live without the Captain – but he wasn't entirely convinced about the certainty of the rest of their futures.

Ianto scowled again as nausea welled in his stomach and he rubbed at the skin under his dirty hooded top one more time.

Again Owen caught the movement and carefully the medic manoeuvred Tosh so she was lying on the make shift bed he had fashioned, using the floor and one of the blankets they had brought with them on their fruitless mission.

"Seriously, Ianto," Owen said, crossing the area and crouching down in front of the assassin. "You are not well, you really should let me check you out."

Ianto copied his actions, moving so that Gwen was also lying down and leading the medic across the cave so they could talk without disturbing the girls; they needed their sleep – especially since they had spent their time in the Himalayas worrying about their families and how they would survive and escape the spheres.

"If I tell you something, you have to promise me not to tell the girls," Ianto whispered under his breath. "I swear I will tell them eventually – if we manage to figure out a way home – but just… please I need to keep it a secret for as long as possible from them. They don't need the added stress."

Owen frowned, not understanding a word of what Ianto was saying. "Ianto, what are you talking about? Are you dying?"

Ianto shook his head, "Far from it," he assured Owen. "You know how me and Jack aren't from this time?" Owen nodded his head and Ianto continued, "Well, when we come from it's possible for both sexes to carry children."

He left his statement hanging, allowing Owen to come to his own conclusion. "That's bullshit!" he exclaimed rather loudly, causing Ianto to shush him quickly.

"It's not bullshit," the Time Agent insisted. "I can carry children – and I am right now."

Owen stared at Ianto, his mind reeling with a thousand and one questions. "You're telling the truth," Owen eventually stated, his mouth dry and his throat tight.

Ianto glared at the medic. "I would never lie about something like that," he swore.

"But how?" Owen hissed, trying not to wake the girls up. "Jack…"

Ianto paused when Gwen shifted as though she was going to wake up. "Jack is the father," he nodded, "and he doesn't know. It happened just before he left."

The medic whistled. "If he had known when he left…"

The assassin immediately cut him off. "He didn't know," he insisted, running a hand through his dirty hair. "He would never have gone if he did."

"Are you sure about that?" Owen shot back, earning himself a fiery look from Ianto. Immediately he held his hands up, "Sorry," he murmured, "that wasn't fair."

"No it wasn't," Ianto replied with a scowl. He didn't admit that Owen was right; he had no idea if things would have been different had Jack known.

x

They had been in the Himalayas for twenty days and eleven hours when the Toclafane struck.

Ianto ventured outside, trying to find something that they could pass off as food. Owen had been reluctant to let him go out alone – the girls still didn't know about the baby, although it wouldn't be long before they would be forced to tell them. But Ianto had agued that he was perfectly capable of protecting himself against whatever he would find in the mountains, and there had been no reported sightings of the Toclafane for days.

Tosh was waiting for him, about six feet away from the entrance to the cave they had been hiding in, when he returned, carrying a small animal they could cook over a fire and share between them.

"What are you doing out here?" Ianto demanded, his voice bordering on angry. "I told you to wait inside."

Tosh wasn't scared by his anger; she knew her friend was nothing more than worried about her – about them – and wanted to see that they were always safe. "I was feeling strange," she admitted, linking her arm through his.

Ianto patted her hand with his own slightly bloody one; none of them cared about what they looked like anymore – they were all dirty and more than a little worse for the wear.

"That's because you haven't seen the sun properly for days now," he assured her. They'd been travelling by night, as it was the only time the Toclafane didn't appear to be able to kill people. Ianto presumed that they didn't have night vision in their weaponry.

"But you still shouldn't be out here," he added.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did the air around them shift as the Toclafane descended two members of Torchwood Three.

x

Martha Jones was exhausted. She had been travelling the world for such a long time, never staying in the same place for too long in case she was spotted by the Toclafane, regardless of the TARDIS key she always wore around her neck.

She almost stumbled down the lane that led to a small, seemingly abandoned, village at the bottom of one of the Himalayan Mountains.

Windows were boarded up and a few shutters were hanging off of the hinges. The first few times Martha had discovered abandoned villages and towns, she had been horrified to witness what the Master had done.

The thought of his actions still horrified her, but the sad fact of the matter was, she had gotten so used to not finding anyone at home, it didn't affect her as much as she knew it should.

Somewhere to her left, an empty chair blew over in the wind; the bang echoing loud through the empty village.

"Hello?" she called, not wanting to attract the attention of any Toclafane that may be lurking nearby.

A door leading into the house on the corner of the narrow street opened a fraction and through the rapidly approaching twilight, Martha could see two eyes peeking out at her.

"Get in here!" a male voice called across the street, urgency and desperation sounding in his tone.

Martha glared a little at being told what to do – she was too used to being on her own now to listen to orders – before she jogged the short distance between her and the house, slipping easily through the door before closing it behind her.

"Thanks," she murmured, looking at her surroundings. The house was almost falling apart from disrepair, but there were a few touches here and there, and Martha couldn't help wondering if the man was there on his own. "I didn't think there would be anyone else here," she admitted.

"We haven't seen anyone for weeks," the man replied, leading her up the stairs.

"We?" Martha echoed, following slightly nervously, wondering what she was about to walk into.

The man pushed a door open, revealing a room that had once been a bedroom, but now seemed to act as an 'everything' room. "It's safer to be all in the same room," the man explained, seeing Martha's confused look.

He nodded to the two females in the room. "This is Tosh," he indicated to the thin Japanese woman, "and Gwen."

Martha smiled at them in response. "And you are?" she inquired, looking up at him.

"Owen," the Londoner introduced himself, crossing the room and sitting down on the ratty old sofa.

"I'm Martha," she replied offering them all small smiles. "Martha Jones."

Three pairs of eyes lit up. "I've heard stories about you, Martha Jones," Owen informed her, patting the seat next to him. "The next village – about five miles away – has heard rumours that you're going around telling stories."

Martha beamed and slid into the seat with a grateful sigh; it was no nice to get off her feet. "I am," she agreed. "Stories about the Doctor."

Immediately Tosh sat upright, her slightly matted hair falling in front of her face. "The Doctor?" she whispered, exchanging excited glances with Gwen and Owen.

The traveller blinked in surprise. "You've heard of him?" she asked. Very few people she had come across seemed to believe her; let alone know who she was talking about before she had even begun her tales.

Owen snorted with laughter, but otherwise remained silent. It was Tosh who spoke, "I met him once," she almost whispered.

"And our boss ran away with him and left us all to die," Gwen added bitterly.

"Stop it!" Owen instructed sharply. "We are not going to die here."

"Tell that to Ianto and…" Gwen's voice broke and she jumped to her feet. "Excuse me," she muttered running past them and out of the room.

Tosh quickly got up and followed her, muttering something about making sure Gwen was okay.

"Ianto?" Martha asked in confusion.

Owen heaved a sigh and got to his feet. Martha watched in silence as the brown haired man paced the room, before stopping and turning to her. "Ianto Jones," he nodded, feeling a familiar pain inside him when he thought of the other man.

"He and our boss, Jack…"

Everything was suddenly starting to fall into place for Martha. "Jack?" she echoed. "Captain Jack Harkness?"

Owen glanced at her sharply. "You know him?" he demanded, crossing the room and grabbing hold of her arms, shaking her lightly.

"I met him briefly," Martha nodded, pulling herself out of Owen's grip. "We barely had chance to speak before everything went to Hell, but he did tell me about his team – family."

"You are Torchwood, right?"

The Londoner choked on a scornful laugh. "What's Torchwood? They don't exist anymore. Fat lot of good we were anyway. Couldn't even stop this happening!" the last few words came out as almost a scream "Fat lot of good Torchwood was," he repeated.

Martha sighed and looked at the window. It was boarded up so she couldn't see outside, but she imagined what the empty street looked like from above.

"Ianto…" Martha said hesitantly.

"He's dead," Owen cut her off before she got a chance to even begin to speak. "If you knew what was good for you, you'd leave it at that."

The End


End file.
